As described in German patent document (Offenlegungsschrift) No. 21 55 048, a bearing assembly for supporting the free end of a drive shaft includes a ball or roller bearing with an inner race embracing the shaft and an outer race engaging an annular support or carrier with an S-shaped cross-section, the carrier being attached at an outer periphery to an inner surface of the housing. The carrier has a center piece in the form of an annular web coaxial with a rotation axis of the shaft and provided with a multiplicity of axially extending slits for ensuring flexibility of the carrier. Such a bearing assembly adequately accommodates axial motion of the free end of the shaft due to thermal expansion thereof during extended power-transmission operations; however, the carrier introduces a radial flexibility which is unacceptable for certain drive-shaft applications where an exact positioning of the shaft is required.
Another German patent document (Gebrauchsmuster) No. 69 38 461 discloses a bearing assembly wherein the carrier or support is in the form of an annular disk. Such a bearing assembly sufficiently limits the radial or transverse motion of the free end of the drive shaft. However, the rigidity also extends to the axial direction, thereby insufficiently providing for accommodation of the shaft's thermal expansion. If thermal expansion of the shaft is not adequately provided for, the shaft is subjected to axial stresses in addition to those arising from the load. The consequent increase in the effective load leads to a diminution of the shaft's life expectancy.
A supporting member or carrier in a bearing assembly according to another German patent document (Offenlegungsschrift) No. 16 25 537 comprises an annular plate of uniform thickness bent at several radial locations to form a corrugated-type disk. Such a disk is generally ineffective in compensating or accommodating the thermal expansion of the shaft, the plate or disk being relatively rigid in an axial direction.
Yet another German patent document (Gebrauchsmuster) No. 19 78 055 discloses a carrier member made of rubber and having a meandering or undulating cross-section. A bearing assembly with such a carrier or supporting member is very flexible and yields too much in a radial direction.